1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatuses for the cleaning of teeth, and more particularly, to an apparatus for personal dental care employing ultrasonic energy wherein the toothbrush member may be readily removed and exchanged.
2. Discussion of the Relevant Art
It has been established that significant benefits are derived from regular dental care performed in the home by the individual himself together with periodic examination and treatment by professionally trained dentists. It is universally recognized, for example, that regular brushing of the teeth, particularly after every meal, serves to dislodge food particles which ordinarily are retained adjacent the teeth and which, if allowed to remain, would cause decay and dental caries. When properly administered, regular brushing also services to maintain good circulation in gingival tissue, thereby lessening the likelihood of gingival disease, one of the prime causes of premature loss of teeth. Perhaps of less, but nevertheless significant, importance are the stain removal and brightening actions resulting from regular brushing, which contribute noticeably to the appearance of the individual.
The present invention has found that, when applied under proper control to tooth and gingival surfaces in the human mouth, ultrasonic energy may be successfully employed for regular oral hygienic care without any damage to tooth surfaces or gingival tissues. These ultrasonic cleaning techniques provide a significantly increased cleaning ability, particularly in the interproximal and gum line areas where presently known brushing techniques are inadequate. Briefly, in accordance with the present invention, a cleaning member, which preferably includes a plurality of individual cleaning elements, such as the bristles on a brush, is vibrated at an ultrasonic rate and manually moved over tooth and gingival surfaces under relatively light pressure.
Although not necessarily limited thereto, the combined ultrasonic and manual movement of the cleaning member may be performed in the presence of a fluid, such as water added specifically for the purpose, or the natural fluids present in the human mouth and in the presence of the usual dentifrices such as toothpaste and tooth powder. The unique properties displayed at the tips of an ultrasonically vibrating member such as a brush, enable greatly improved cleaning results to be achieved, particularly in areas where manual or conventional motor driven toothbrushes cannot reach. The ultrasonic energy is applied to the tooth and gingival surfaces such that no damage whatsoever to the surfaces will result. On the other hand, because of the greatly improved cleaning power, the buildup of tartar and scale deposits in the interproximal and gingival areas is significantly lessened, promoting a much higher degree of dental health than is possible with ordinary methods of dental hygienic care.
The art includes many different devices designed specifically to provide a means for dislodging food particles which may be retained between the teeth or removing deposits of plaque, tartar and scale occurring on the teeth. Different types of ultrasonic toothbrushes are known in the prior art. However, it appears that none of the devices in the prior art utilize an ultrasonic driving motor, that is a motor having vibratory output energy between 10,000 and 50,000 Hz that are capable of transferring this ultrasonic vibratory force to the appliance such as a toothbrush or other element, that is the utilizer of this energy, without permanently affixing the magnetostrictive or crystal component to the appliance or permitting ready interchangeability of the toothbrush of other element.
Thus, when it becomes necessary to exchange the appliance, such as a toothbrush, so that different individuals utilizing the apparatus may readily utilize their own toothbrush, it was necessary to change the toothbrush together with the magnetostrictive component, which formed a unitary sub-assembly. This was the only way that the vibratory forces could be transferred from the ultrasonic power source to the toothbrush or other instrument. Certain instruments designed for use by professionals, such as a dentist in the cleaning of the teeth, could be removed with the aid of a tool or by multiple rotations of the instrument. Numerous revolutions were required so that the threads, utilized to couple the instrument to the vibratory power source, could be disengaged. Replacement of the dental instrument occurred only when the instrument became defective or worn out and thus, did not occur very often. However, for individuals to use an ultrasonic toothbrush they must be able to exchange the toothbrush element with ease and a minimal amount of force. Young children must be able to exchange the toothbrush element with ease if the apparatus is to become popular.
Heretofore, one was not able to couple the vibratory energy to the toothbrush or other element, with any degree of success, because the coupling between the magnetostrictive component and the utilizing element required a solid, if not permanent, contact between the two in order to permit the transfer of energy from one to the other. This accounts for the approaches utilized in the prior art, whereby the magnetostrictive component was always affixed to the using element and when the element was replaced the magnetostrictive component was replaced with it as a unitary assembly.
The instant invention overcomes the shortcomings known in the prior art by providing a sealed ultrasonic power source to which an element such as a toothbrush may be quickly connected and disconnected by a unique coupling method.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a simple, efficient, reliable means of transferring ultrasonic energy from a power source to a using element.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a quick disconnect coupling suitable for use with an ultrasonic power source.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a quick disconnect coupling for use with an ultrasonic power source that is efficient and is capable of transferring the vibratory energy from the power source to the using element.
An ultrasonic toothbrush apparatus, according to the principle of the present invention comprises, in combination, an exchangeable toothbrush member, an ultrasonic power member apparatus for suppling vibratory energy in the ultrasonic range and a coupling arrangement for removing the exchangeable toothbrush member from the ultrasonic power member with less than one complete revolution with a relatively small separating force therebetween.
An ultrasonic toothbrush apparatus comprises, in combination an exchangeable toothbrush member which includes an elongated body portion having an oral contact portion, extending outwardly from one distal end of the body portion. The other end of the body portion is hollow and is provided with a centrally disposed opening terminating in a contact surface. At least one inwardly extending protrusion is disposed at the circumference of the centrally disposed opening to function as a keying guide means. A plurality of threads divided into at least two sections are disposed within the hollow body portion between the contact surface and the opening. The threaded hollow body portion is adapted to receive a mating threaded portion.
An ultrasonic power member supplies the vibratory energy in the ultrasonic range for the exchangeable toothbrush and includes, an elongated housing having an ultrasonic power source for supplying the vibratory energy disposed within the hollow housing. The power source is adapted to be connected to a source of electrical energy and is provided with a vibratory output end, which extends longitudinally at one end of the housing. The longitudinally outwardly extending portion is provided with a plurality of threads divided into at least two sections. A longitudinal channel extends from one distal edge of the extending portion towards the other end of the extending portion terminating in a connecting relatively short channel disposed transverse to the longitudinal channel. The housing outwardly extending portion and the channel are adapted to cooperate with each other so that the hollow body threads and the housing extending portion threads engage. The hollow body inwardly extending protrusion slidably engages the housing elongated member channel so that when the toothbrush member is rotated with respect to the power member housing sufficient for the housing internally extending protrusion to be seated into the relatively short transverse channel, the body portion contact surface is in intimate contact with the distal edge of the housing extending portion, wherein vibratory energy from the ultrasonic power source is efficiently transferred to the toothbrush body portion.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages will appear from the description to follow. In the description, reference is made to accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof, and in which is shown, by way of illustration, a specific embodiment in which the invention may be practiced. This embodiment will be described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and that it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is best defined by the appended claims.
In the drawings, like reference characters have been utilized to designate like or corresponding components in the alternative embodiments of the invention in order to better understand the invention.